1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer expansion system. More specifically, the present invention relates to an expansion device for interfacing with a mobile electronic device to expand the functionality and/or connectivity of the mobile electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Mobile electronic devices are becoming increasingly thin and light, which can improve their mobility and extend their battery life. However, these mobile devices often sacrifice functionality, such as optical drives and multimedia devices (e.g., speakers), to improve their mobility characteristics. Such mobile devices can be connected to individual peripheral devices to expand their functionality as desired, but this can be inconvenient or cumbersome when connecting multiple devices. They can also be connected to docking stations and port replicators to provide expanded functionality while in a desktop mode.
Conventional docking stations and port replicators permit mobile devices to be quickly converted into stationary, desktop workstations via simple connections to peripheral devices. When the mobile device is attached to the docking station or port replicator, the mobile device accesses the peripheral devices connected to the docking station or port replicator, which increases its functionality for use in desktop mode. The mobile device quickly connects to the docking station or port replicator via a connector port, such as a universal serial bus connector or a small computer systems interface connector.
Conventional docking stations connect to a keyboard, a mouse, a network card and a power supply. Some docking stations also provide slots for expansion cards, furnish bays for optical drives and hard drives, include multimedia speakers, and/or offer connectivity to an external monitor. Further, some docking stations include a stand for supporting an external monitor. Conventional port replicators are similar to docking stations in that they permit peripheral devices to be attached to the mobile device to convert it to a desktop workstation. However, port replicators tend to be smaller than docking stations and are not as readily expandable as a docking station. Further, port replicators do not include a monitor stand, expansion cards, supply bays for optical drives and hard drives, or multimedia speakers.
Users of conventional mobile computing devices have the option of limited functionality of the device while in a mobile mode, the option of connecting individual devices to the mobile device for expanding specific functionality as desired, or the option of using a port replicator or docking station to connect multiple devices thereto while in a desktop mode.